~Provoking the Imagination~

Werewolves Of the Heartland by Bill Willingham – A Book Review

A stand-alone graphic novel from the Fables universe, Werewolves Of the Heartland features Bigby Wolf as he wanders across America looking for a new city to call home. He comes across Story City, and, as fate would have it, it bears an inextricable link to our favorite Fable.

Regular readers of Fables know that Bigby Wolf saw action during World War II, and this graphic novel spends a small amount of time reliving some of those moments. However, the majority of the story takes place in Story City, and it involves, as the name would suggest, a society of werewolves against which Bigby must take action.

I love the Fables series, and it usually doesn’t miss, but Werewolves Of the Heartland is nonessential reading and, frankly, moves rather slowly as though trying to fill space. The storyline is not especially engaging, nor are the characters particularly dynamic. In fact, without his usually supporting characters, Bigby himself falls flat in this work.

Furthermore, be warned, there is a lot of nudity in this book, both men and women alike. I won’t go so far as to say it’s photorealistic, but the men and women remove their clothing before turning into werewolves, and the artists made sure to render them anatomically correct. There are also a few moments of seduction that include nudity as well. I’ll be honest, like the story itself, much of the nudity felt unnecessary.

As apparent, I don’t recommend Werewolves Of the Heartland. As an avid reader of Fables, I believe you can bypass this work and still understand the main storyline just fine.